


Gods Among the WCKD

by Eclipsesab



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mystery, Newt!Batman, Teresa!Wonder Woman, Thomas!Superman, justice league au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-02-23 09:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23009299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eclipsesab/pseuds/Eclipsesab
Summary: Thomas is new to the whole hero gig, and honestly he's not sure that it will work out.  However, a new job among more influential people exposes him to a new side of the hero work.  As a mystery unfolds before him, Thomas discovers other heroes and tries to weave his double life, and investigate this new wonder drug that threatens to tear the city apart.  What Thomas could never account for is the sudden appearance of a rich guy who has a weird interest in him.
Relationships: Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner), Teresa Agnes/Minho (Maze Runner)
Kudos: 21





	1. First Encounter

He already knew that he was late and there was no way of getting around a scolding from his boss. It honestly wasn’t his fault, keeping a double life was harder than he could’ve imagined. He had managed to stop a mugging on his way to work, but he had to make sure the guy who was doing it got what he deserved. What he did not expect was the guy to put up such a fight. Thomas wasn’t concerned about being hurt, but he didn’t want to cause unnecessary pain unto others. The guy had punched him, and he could hear and feel the bones in his hand shatter, but it didn’t faze the guy at all. He just kept on swinging, breaking more bones and seemingly had no way of telling how much pain he was in.

Finally, the guy couldn’t really move anymore and just fell to the ground yelling insults all the while Thomas picked him up and took him to a hospital. He also notified the police, just in case the guy had done something like this before, or the person he tried to mug wanted to press charges. Thomas was then back on track to get to work but had wasted an entire thirty minutes dealing with the situation. He could very well just use his speed to get to work, but at this point it wouldn’t make a difference. Thomas worked at the Right Arm, the major news publication in the entire Metropolis area.   
He was lucky to get the job in the first place; he had managed to get through the small local college in his hometown back in Colorado. He then moved to Metropolis hoping to just do some free-lance reporting, until he was taken seriously and to start his whole hero career as well. It took about a month until he got a call from the Right Arm, saying the boss had wanted to hire him as a contributor for the paper. Thomas was blown away, as the CEO of the Right Arm was one of the richest men in the country, and apparently, he was aware of the small insignificant work he had done. Now he had been working for the paper for about half a year and had only managed to get on the actual print once, and all the other pieces he had written were tossed out.

Granted they were small time pieces of local crime or on a shop just down the corner losing business. The more senior reporters told him to just give it time, and that he needed to build up contacts and that was not something that was done overnight. He reached the building and began his ascent to the twelve floor and try to avoid getting torn apart for being late. When he reached his desk and one of his workmates approached, did he realize how bad it was to be late this day.

“Hey, Thomas.”

“Minho, please tell me you’re just saying hi and not telling me how late I am.”

“Mostly just saying hello, but the big boss is here.”

“I’m sure Vince will understand.”

“Oh, no not Vince, I mean the guy who owns the paper. You know Newt Ross, eccentric billionaire and the guy who got you hired?” Minho said.

Thomas felt a pit drop in his stomach, “You have got to be kidding.”

“I wish I was, he wanted to take a tour of one of his most successful investments. Plus, he has a huge launch coming up for one of his military R&D projects and wants some good press.”

“Can’t he just order them to give good press, I mean he owns the paper.” Thomas said.

“He doesn’t like good press that isn’t earned. I mean he could force us to give him praise, but he doesn’t want it that easily.” Minho explained.

Thomas sank into his chair and pulled up a few stories he was pursuing and just tried to get some work done, and not worry. Newt Ross was not someone to be messed with, he was worth about fifteen billion dollars and had a hand in almost every major industry. He was also an orphan, whose parents were murdered when he was just about ten and inherited the Ross empire. He was a recluse for most of his young life, until he hit eighteen and took over the family business and turned it into the powerhouse it was today. He was now a twenty-five-year-old billionaire bachelor, that always made news no matter where he was.

Thomas was sure that the news would dedicate a small portion to the fact that Newt was at the Right Arm. Thomas managed to finish his report on the local economy and he really wanted to dive more into the inner-city housing situation that had caught his attention. Thomas had managed to sink into his work so much he never even noticed that there were people standing behind him.

“Thomas?” someone said.

Thomas jumped and quickly turned around to find not only Vince standing behind him, but also Newt. Vince was in his upper forties, with sandy blonde hair that was starting to gray and had this always tired look on his face. Newt himself was smirking and loomed tall next to Vince. Newt had blonde hair swept to the side, a sharp jawline and mirth filled green eyes.

“Did you need something?” Thomas asked.

“A few things, one I’d like to know why you were late this morning and also to introduce you to the owner of the paper.” Vince said.

“Oh, well I helped stop a mugging this morning and didn’t watch the time. I swear it won’t happen again and might I add this is the first time I have ever been late.” Thomas said.

Vince smiled, “You and your golden heart, alright I’ll let it slide. Anyway, Thomas this is Newt Ross, owner of the Right Arm.”

Thomas stuck out his hand at the same time he stood, “Nice to meet you.”

Newt shook it and smirked at him, “It’s a pleasure. I had been wanting to meet you since pushing Vince here to hire you.”

“Oh, well I can’t thank you enough for this. I thought it was going to take years to get anywhere.”

“Not to worry, I had read some interesting stories about you and thought you would be a good addition.” Newt said.

Thomas had to wonder what that comment meant, as the biggest place any of Thomas’ old pieces had got posted was his own blog page.

“What are you working on now?” Newt asked.

“Well, I just finished a work on a bunch of small stores being bought out, but still being allowed to run. The whole thing seemed fishy to me, but I was met with a huge roadblock. For whatever reason someone from the mayor’s office didn’t want any attention on the sliding local economy and shut me out. So, I’m trying to work on the inner-city housing and how it’s really gone downhill in the last few years because of the change in funding.” Thomas explained.

“And you decided to do this because?”

“Well, I live in one of the housing projects and I watched a lot of the small family shops I liked almost vanish.” Thomas explained.

“So, you had a personal stake in these stories?”

“More or less.”

Newt analyzed him for a moment before smiling and looking to Vince.

“He’s definitely a keeper.” Newt turned to Thomas, “I look forward to seeing your work.”

Vince and Newt walked away at that point talking about various things and Thomas breathed a huge sigh of relief. He had managed to get off the hook for being late and had somehow impressed the boss. Minho walked over and was flashing a smirk at him, and Thomas dreaded what he was thinking about. Minho often liked to mess with Thomas, whether it was challenging Thomas to an arm-wrestling contest or seeing who could carry the greatest number of things up and down the stairwell.

Thomas usually managed to get out of the tests of strengths, because if Thomas had really wanted to, he could put Minho into the ground from twelve stories up. Minho stopped at the doorway to Thomas’ desk and simply smiled at him, as if Thomas could read his mind.

“What?” Thomas asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just admiring the fact that you had Newt Ross drooling over you and you’re too oblivious to realize it.” Minho said.

“What do you mean?”

“See exactly, even when I spell it out for you, you still don’t get it. I mean he stopped at your desk, asked about your work, smiled and laughed at what you said, and hoped to see you again. I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty flirty with me.”

“Ok, one, he was with Vince when I almost got reamed for being late. Two, I’m new and he owns the paper so he probably wants to know some of the people on his payroll, and three he was not laughing at what I was saying and he wanted to see my work in the future, not me specifically.” Thomas retorted.

“Whatever you say. Besides it’s not every day you see the big boss down with us plebs.”

“I hear that, anyway, did you happen to get the sports section done?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah, I can send it your way for editing and then hopefully get it in the paper before the end of the day. Also, don’t forget about the gala tomorrow, half the staff will be gone so we’ll need to work overtime to pick up the slack.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

Minho laughed and left Thomas to his own devices. Thomas worked hard but kept his ears open to see if anything big happened. The advantage of having super hearing meant you could keep an eye on things without ever letting on that your listening. Of course, Thomas’ range went on for miles, so he had to limit it to just a few blocks or risk overwhelming himself with the input. When he broke for lunch he decided to head up to the roof and simply ate his sandwich in peace while watching the cars below. No one had ever found him up here, so when he decided to stand on the ledge, he didn’t have to worry about anyone catching him.

He had little fear of heights, considering he could fly, and it’s not like when he hit the ground anything in his body would break. It was tough keeping all his abilities secret, but he had managed to master it after years of practice. He can remember the first time his powers acted up, and he had honestly freaked out. It was in the middle of fifth grade science when things started to look fuzzy and out of focus. Suddenly the wall in front of him disappeared and he saw the next class over, it was then that the hearing kicked in and a car idling outside sounded like a freight train driving through his head.  
He had panicked, not knowing what was going on and how to stop it and simply ran from the room. He locked himself in a closet and stayed there until his mother had come to get him. After that he kept quiet, slowly losing friends and desperately trying to cling to any normalcy he had left in his life. By the time he had hit high school his super strength had come in and his invulnerability as well. He never played a sport and mostly stuck to himself, and when someone would bully him it was always a challenge not to bury their face six feet down.

“I hope you don’t jump.” A voice said.

Thomas was shaken out of his thoughts quickly, and he fell over onto the roof. A round of laughter was heard, and Thomas picked himself up to look who it was that had laughed at him. Low and behold it was Newt, still in his suit but holding a cigarette in one hand.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” Newt said.

“No, its fine, wasn’t expecting someone to be up here.” Thomas answered.

“Me too, and you’d think that if you owned the building, they’d let you smoke in it, but no I still have to follow the rules.” Newt complained.

“I didn’t know you smoked. Or really anything about you.”

“Can’t blame you, and I don’t smoke often. This week has just been particularly stressful, and I needed something to help ease the tension.”

“Fair enough.”

There was silence for a moment and Thomas redirected his attention back to the city after hearing sirens go off.

“What are you doing up here anyway?” Newt asked.

“Oh, um, just eating lunch. I like it up here sometimes, to be above it all and not have to worry about the problems below for a little while.”

“That sounds nice.”

“It doesn’t usually last more than an hour and I’m back to the grind.” Thomas lamented.

“True, but you seem to be doing better and better these days.”

“That may be, but it’s not all that peachy. I live in a tiny apartment in the poorest part of the city, and I still barely manage to earn enough. I keep all of this out of my parent’s way because what can they do to help? They live out in Colorado on a ranch and are content with the fact that I managed to find a job.” Thomas added.

“So, you try to keep all your problems to yourself? Not something new in my experience.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

They were both silent again, but this time Thomas wasn’t distracted as the sirens were just responding to a fist fight in the street. That wasn’t something worth his attention as the police could handle something like that.

“Are you going to the gala tomorrow?” Newt asked.

“Which one?”

“You know, the WKCD Corp one?”

“Junior reporter here, I too inexperienced for something like that, and plus I wouldn’t know what to do or wear in that situation.” Thomas answered.

“I think I might be able to help you with that.” Newt said.

Thomas’ mind sped to a halt, “Come again?”

“How’s this sound, I will help you get everything you need for the gala and in exchange you come with me.” Newt offered.

“Why would you do that?”

“Why do you think I pushed to get you hired? Because there is something there that most people don’t see. I see a curious mind that could find the stories, and a heart of gold that would try and help people the consequences be damned. Also, there is just something extraordinary about you and I think I would like to figure out what that is.” Newt explained.

“But, what about my work. I promised Minho that I would help.”

“You mean the Asian looking one with the huge muscles and pearly smile?”

“Yes?” Thomas said.

“You do realize he’s going as well? He was invited by Teresa Agnes, you know the famous art collector?”

“What really?”

“Yes, apparently she has decided to get away from her precious collection for a time and dine with us plebeians.”

“Wow, well I guess I can take you up on your offer.”

“Great, I’ll have everything squared away for you by tomorrow morning. So, just show up here and everything should be waiting for you.” Newt said.

“How am I supposed to get there?”

“I’ll come and get you obviously. That is part of the whole going with me thing.”

“Oh, true.”

Newt pulled out his phone and began working on it, doing who knows what and smiled at Thomas when he looked up.

“You should probably get going, your lunch ends in two minutes.” Newt said.

“Oh! Right.”

Thomas quickly gathered his things and rushed back down to his desk and attempted to get more work done. He was editing Minho’s piece halfheartedly while just thinking over the events of the day. He had almost completely forgotten about the man this morning and supposed that that would need some follow up on. Someone just doesn’t fight like that without some outside help. Thomas got to work once he was back at his desk and low and behold Minho walked up to his desk at some point and told him that he couldn’t help tomorrow and without him there Thomas really couldn’t do much to help. Thomas kept quiet about what Newt had offered, as it didn’t seem important or something that Newt would want to broadcast to the world.

Thomas eventually left the office at around four and managed to get back to his little apartment in about twenty minutes and went about getting himself ready for the evening. He pulled on his blue suit and red cape and ditched that glasses that he really didn’t need. He left out his front door, which always made him feel a little ridiculous, but he really didn’t have any other options. Using his speed to make it to the roof before anyone could spot him and he took off from there. The evening was quiet, or about as quiet as a city could be, and simply enjoyed the flight and watched the ever-warm sun slowly dip lower and lower in the sky. He wasn’t sure what it was, but whenever he felt the sun on his skin, he felt stronger and more energetic. 

It was when the sun had finally set, and the sky was beginning to turn black did he finally hear it. It was low at first, almost too low for even him to hear, but he picked it up regardless. Some sort of confrontation was going down on the south end, and from the sounds of it, it was about to turn deadly. He sped over and hovered above the situation for a moment, taking in the scene and not trying to make things worse by charging in.

“You can’t just take our turf, not at least without a little compensation.” One man said.

“I’m willing to offer money or perhaps manpower to help you make up for your losses.” Another said.

The man offering the money was in an expensive looking suit and had some big bodyguards. The other group looked the part of your ragtag group of thugs, with dirty clothing and handguns clearly on show.

“I could take that, but I think I’d take some of the new drug your pushing.”

The man in the suit stiffened, but it was so subtle you’d think he was breathing in.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” He replied.

“You can’t be serious, one of your guys got busted by the boy in blue today. Plus, all those shops that got bought out on the northeast side, no one that isn’t you.”

“It seems your smarter than you let on, but that substance is not in my control. I can only offer you what I have mentioned.”

It was then that he decided to interfere, he slowly floated down and casually landed in between the two groups. They all quickly tensed and drew their guns and pointed them at him.  
“Now, now gentlemen let’s not make a mess.” He said.

“New this deal was junk from the moment we got here.” The thug leader said.

“If it isn’t our city’s superman, to what do we owe this pleasure?” the man in the suit asked.

“Well one, I’d like to stop you guys from killing each other and two I’d like to know more about this wonder drug you seem to be pushing.” Thomas replied.

“Oh, if only it were that simple. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know much about it; I simply go out and find new locations for my business. Nothing more than a simple business transaction wouldn’t you agree?”

Thomas paused as he heard a small hiss and firing of a gun of sorts, though it wasn’t from any of these men, which meant he had a third-party audience. He had to act smartly and not let the whole situation spiral out of control.

“Look, I’ll let you all go as you’ve done nothing wrong, but you have to meet me halfway and give me some kind of information.” Thomas implored.

“Well, I’m sorry but I can’t give you that.”

It was then that the two bodyguards opened fire and Thomas moved quickly to put himself between the thugs behind him and the bullets flying towards them. He managed to get there, and the bullets simply hit him and then fell the ground useless. He stood there waiting for them to waste all their ammunition so he could act and subdue them. He heard the hiss fire of that gun again and heard boots hit the ground and the bullets suddenly stopped firing. The guards were on the ground with a figure in a black costume standing over the man in the suit.

“You’re going to give me the information I want, or I’m going to let the big boy in blue have at you.” The figure said.

“Please, I’m just a low level, I don’t know anything.” The man pleaded.

“Then you know someone who does, I want names.”

Thomas approached and simply stood a few feet away and watched the whole thing go down. He had never heard of a masked vigilante before and wondered just who this guy was. The voice sounded familiar, but Thomas could not place as to where.

“I work for the Rat Man, he’s the one whose been pushing us to buy up territory. I swear, that’s all I know.”

“Good.”

The masked man knocked the man in the suit out and collected whatever information from him that he could. He then turned to face Thomas and he got a good look at the guys costume. It was almost completely black, with dark grey accents and bat symbol in the middle of his chest. A cowl covered every part of his face except for his mouth, but even with that much exposed Thomas couldn’t put a name to the face.

“I thought it was time that we met.” The figure said.

“Well, I would say the same, but seeing as I’ve never heard of you before I wouldn’t know.” Thomas replied.

“I’ve been following your work for some time now and I have to admit I’m impressed, but your power is what concerns me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your super strength, invulnerability, flight, and a mired of others that I have yet to see, there is no way to stop you if you went rogue.” The figure said.

“I won’t you can take my word. All I want to do is to help people, not hurt them.”

“If only it were that simple. A person with your kind of power could take over the world and not break a sweat, that is what concerns me.”

“Well, is there anything I can do to ease your worries?” Thomas asked.

“What were you after here?” the figure asked instead.

“Just following up on something strange that happened earlier today. I managed to stop a mugger, but he fought back with a kind of abandoned I’ve never seen. He punched me, broke bones in his hand but kept on fighting as if nothing had happened. He only stopped when he couldn’t move anymore from the number of bones he had broken.” Thomas explained.

“Sounds familiar, some of the smaller gangs have been challenge Cobblepot and Dent in Gotham, and I wondered just what was motivating them. I traced the drug Metropolis, but now the lead has run cold and I was hoping you might have something.”

“Not much, just bought up stores, and a few freak assaults here and there. I’m not sure how much you know about me, but I don’t have a great deal of resources to do investigations.” Thomas admitted.

The figure smirked, “I figured, you’ve been operating in Metropolis for barely six months and the city has still yet to notice your efforts. Though the underworld seems to be aware of your presence, enough to call you a threat.”

“I’d say that’s fair. How will I be able to contact you in the future and what should I call you?”

“Oh, I’ll find you and you can call me Batman.”

Thomas nodded and heard the men groan on the ground and looked to see them beginning to wake up. Thomas looked back, hoping that this Batman could help him take them to the police, but he was gone. It was strange as Thomas didn’t hear anything or see him go, it was as if he vanished into thin air. He sighed and went down and grabbed the men before floating into the air.

“Time to get you guys a new home.” Thomas said.


	2. WCKD Gala

Thomas came in the next day, wondering if Newt would have everything he said, but his desk was empty. Minho hadn’t even bothered to come in for even half a day, so Thomas spent most of his time picking up his slack and subtly panicking over what was coming later that day. Thomas didn’t even notice that one of the secretaries had come over to tell him that someone was here to see him. Thomas simply waved and kept on working hoping his point got across, though that rarely ever happened. With just his luck it didn’t, and he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

“Sorry, sir but Master Newt is requesting your presence now.” The man said.

Thomas turned and found an older man standing there in a servant’s suit, he was balding, had a mustache, and had a neutral look on his face. It took a moment to realize that the man meant that Thomas needed to leave.

“You mean now?” Thomas asked stupidly.

“That would be correct, sir. Master Newt does not want to waste any more time and you need the proper preparation in order to attend.”

“Alright, give me a minute to save and put everything away.”

“Is there any way I can help sir?”

“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to.” 

“On the contrary, it is my job to assist Master Newt and all his guests.”

Thomas paused for a minute, “Can you put the newspaper and the articles talking about housing into my bag?”

“Of course, sir.”

Thomas simply started saving all the documents on his computer and sent off the last few emails of the day. Once, that was over he shut the computer down and got his jacket and low and behold the butler had managed to get all his papers ready and handed him his bag.

“Thanks.” Thomas said.

“Is that everything, sir?”

“I believe so.”

“Excellent, now if you’ll follow me there is a car out front where I will take you to Master Newt’s current residence in the city.”

“Sounds good.”

The butler leads him out of the tower and a nice-looking car sat right in front of the building. The butler held the door open for him and was the one who drove the car. Thomas watched the city go by and had to wonder just where Newt stayed in the city, as Thomas was under the impression that he lived in Gotham.

“Does Newt live in the city?” Thomas asked.

“He has a penthouse on the west side, but primarily spends his time in Ross manor in Gotham. However, ever since he bought the Right Arm and the military contract was signed, he has spent more time in Metropolis.” The butler answered.

Thomas was silent for a moment, “How long have you known him?”

“I was hired by his parents when he was but four years old and have been with him ever since.”

Thomas was silent, taking in the information and he was honestly surprised. This guy took care of Newt when his parents had been murdered and had essentially raised him from that point. Thomas wasn’t aware of how many servants Newt employed, but what he knew of him, it didn’t fit his character. The drive lasted no more than twenty minutes as they weaved through the late afternoon traffic and stopped at a smaller high rise. Thomas could tell Newt had picked this one, as it was farther from the center of the city, which meant less press would always be on him. Thomas had no idea what it was like to have press constantly follow you and wonder about your every move, but he imagined it didn’t give you a whole lot of privacy.

The butler led him into the building and up to the very top floor which held only one penthouse and Thomas was told that the whole thing was Newt’s. He was shown a bedroom that had his suit laid out and Thomas was frozen for a second.

“Now, Master Newt will not be here for another hour. I would advise taking that time to bath yourself, there are products in the washroom for you to use. Once he is here, we can begin to make sure you suit is well fitting and inform you of tonight’s schedule.” The butler said.

“Yeah, sure thanks.” Was all Thomas could manage.

The butler left him there and Thomas took in the room and wondered just how expensive this place was. The bedroom alone was half the size of his entire apartment, and the place had two of them. Not to mention the state-of-the-art kitchen, living room, and balcony that overlooked the city itself. This was the closest Thomas had ever gotten to extreme wealth and probably would be about as close as he would ever get. He quickly shed his work bag and jacket and decided to use the bathroom while he had the chance. The bathroom was mostly marble and granite, which must have costed a fortune. The shower was nice and hot, as compared to Thomas’ place which never got above lukewarm and was often cold or ice cold.

He took a long shower, letting months of built up dirt and grime wash away and simply let his stress disappear as well. Even with all his power he still had a great deal of problems and hardships that he really didn’t see a way out of. His money situation was always tight, and occasionally he skipped a meal, so he could afford rent at the end of the month. Yet here he stood, in an apartment, owned by a guy who had more money than he even knew what to do with. Once he finished, he left the bathroom in just a towel and sat in the bedroom taking everything in, before his stomach told him otherwise. Thomas went looking in the kitchen for food and hoped that Newt was nice enough to keep something edible in this place.

Thomas had just opened the pantry when someone spoke, “Wow didn’t realize I was that special.”

Thomas yelped and jumped into the air and turned finding Newt sitting on the couch, with a laptop in front of him and papers all over the table.

“What?” was what Thomas said.

“You sell it really well, the whole being weak and nonthreatening. Who knew you were so well-built underneath?” Newt said.

Thomas looked down and remembered that he was still in just a bathrobe and left almost nothing to the imagination. Part of him keeping up his civilian persona was having just slightly too big of clothing so people wouldn’t really notice the rather strong muscles underneath. It helped him sell the idea he wasn’t as strong and gave him some distance on being the superman, though the glasses helped too.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you would be here so quickly.” Thomas said.

“Well, when Alfred told me that you looked like a lost puppy when he left, I thought I’d come over early to help ground you.” Newt replied.

“Alfred?”

“My butler, he drove you here. Now, how about we start getting you dressed, as its nearly five and we have just an hour until we need to leave.”

“Oh, alright.” Thomas said.

Newt lead him back into the bedroom and Thomas put on the suit that had been picked out for him. It was tight fitting and left nothing to the imagination about his form, but Thomas liked how it felt on him. It was black with a sharp green tie, that stood out and Thomas hoped that it did look good on him. When he went out of the bedroom to show Newt, Newt himself was in a partial state of dress with his pants on and his button up shirt thrown loosely around him. Thomas stood there waiting for Newt to notice him, not wanting to interrupt whatever it was that he was doing.

“Oh, good I was worried it wouldn’t fit.” Newt said upon seeing him.

“Really?”

“Yes, I only had a quick glance and that hidden muscular stature made it slightly more difficult. It’s not easy to get a suit tailored to a six two well cut guy.” Newt said.

Thomas fell silent, not sure how to take that statement. It sounded like a compliment to him, but he couldn’t be so sure that it was. Thomas simply walked over and stood there not sure what to do, as Newt worked to get himself ready.

“You ever been to one of these before?” Newt asked.

“Considering I grew up in rural Colorado I would say no.” Thomas quipped back.

“Ha, ha, so the basics are don’t talk to the press, they are just trying to spin any kind of story out of these things. All the other people there are after something, especially the business people, they are just trying to get something out of you.”

“Seems simple enough.”

“That will just be the start, the host is Dr. Ava Paige. She has been after big deals since she started WCKD nearly three years ago. Most likely she’ll stop by and talk but know that all she is after is a way to win. I’ve avoided partnering with her in the past because of how fishy her business seems, but that won’t stop her. If she talks to you, try to avoid any personal stuff and stick to just idle chat, that way she can’t use you in the future.” Newt explained.

“If you’re so dubious about the business, why go in the first place?” Thomas asked.

“Some things are expected of us wealthy, and there are others there that I would like to meet on neutral ground. When you lived my life, you realize you need to pick your battles, and this is going to be one of mine.”

“So, why bring me?”

“Now that is the true question isn’t it?” Newt said smirking.

Thomas never got an answer and that frustrated Thomas as he was starting to realize that there were some things that he would never get an answer to. Newt was good at selecting what he wanted to be said and stopping the conversation when it went too far. Even though Thomas was aware of this, he had no idea how to talk his way around it, as he had never been good with outthinking people. They left the apartment roughly twenty minutes later and Alfred drove them to a rather nice-looking hotel. There were dozens of photographers, reporters, and cameras just outside of the door camped out on the steps leading inside.

This was the first time Thomas had ever been on this end of the camera, and it was an exciting feeling. He felt a hand on his arm and turned to find Newt looking at him seriously.

“Alright, first test, just keep on walking and get inside. Don’t talk to any of these guys, they aren’t worth the time.” Newt said.

Alfred opened the doors and for the first few moments nothing happened as the paparazzi were too busy focusing on other people. He felt Newt take his arm and they started walking in, and once they were perhaps a third of the way up did one of the reporters notice Newt. After that it was nothing but shouting voices and flashes of light, which made it somewhat hard to see the stairs and Thomas nearly stumbled.

“Keep your eyes down; it will help you see.” Newt whispered in his ear.

Thomas did as he was told and sure enough, he managed to get into the building without falling flat on his face in front of all the cameras. Newt lead Thomas around, talking with various people that Thomas could not remember the name of, that is until he spotted Minho.

“Hey, Min!” Thomas yelled.

Minho turned, as did the woman next to him and he waved over at Thomas, before rushing to get to him.

“Hey, what on earth are you doing here Thomas?” Minho asked.

“You know, just mixing.” Thomas replied.

“Alright, be vague about it.”

Thomas quickly put together in his head who exactly Minho was with and he almost did a double take. Teresa Anges, the world-famous art collector and head of the Louvre’s classical art section. Newt had to tell him all of that as Thomas had never heard of her before and apparently, she was new to the world stage, only managing to become well respected in the last two years. 

“Nice to meet you, I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” Teresa said.

“Oh, right, well Thomas meet Teresa, Teresa meet Thomas. He and I both work for the Right Arm.” Minho said.

Thomas shook her hand and felt a definite strength behind her, and Thomas couldn’t deny that she was beautiful. Long black hair, with a soft yet strong face, and she was also very tall. Thomas himself topped out at six three, but Teresa could nearly look him dead in the eyes. It was then that Newt decided to rejoin Thomas, unaware of the situation.

“Oh, now it makes sense.” Minho said.

“What makes sense?” Newt asked.

“Oh, nothing just something Thomas and I’ll have to talk about later.” Minho said.

Thomas didn’t like the idea of that conversation that was coming if the look on Minho’s face was anything to go by.

“Nice to meet you Teresa, I’ve followed your work and you do impress.” Newt said.

“Same to you Mr. Ross, I’ve heard a sizable donation from the Ross foundation made its way too my department.” Teresa replied.

“Of course, I couldn’t very well let someone with your, talents, go unnoticed.” Newt said.

A look crossed Teresa’s face for just a moment and Thomas almost didn’t catch it. Something about what Newt had said, threw Teresa off, but she managed to maintain her smile.  
“Well I hope to see you again in the future.” Teresa said.

“Likewise.” Newt replied.

Teresa and Minho left, and Thomas was at a loss for what had just happened.

“What was up with that?” Thomas asked.

“What do you mean?” Newt replied.

“That whole exchange between you and Teresa, she seemed off. I wouldn’t say anything if I didn’t notice how her face changed.”

“Oh, that, well let’s just say there is more to that woman than meets the eyes. Though it doesn’t matter, she usually never leaves Paris, but I’ve kept my eyes on her.” Newt said.

Newt led them to their table, and Thomas had no idea who any of the other people were. Newt said they were all businessmen but were rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things and the only reason they were at the table was because they had pulled strings to be put there. It all seemed very archaic to Thomas, but that was the world of business and he had no intention of really getting into it. A few dishes were served to keep guests from being too uncomfortable while waiting for the main course to get started. All their attention was drawn to the main stage when a microphone was turned on and an older looking lady stood behind it.

“Welcome everyone and thank you for coming to this year’s WCKD Gala. First, I would like to say a few words and then the main meal will be served and then we can move on to the main presentation. Now this year WCKD is sponsoring huge developments in the medical infrastructure…”

Thomas tuned out after that and looked around the room before he felt a tap on his arm. Newt had leaned in close, so much so he could feel his warm breath on his neck.

“That’s the Dr. Paige I had mentioned earlier. She built WCKD from the ground up and somehow has managed to become a major competitor in about two years. She’s pushed for a partnership with Ross Enterprises, but I’ve always managed to fight her off. See if she mentions me in any way, that shows she’s still hungry.” Newt said.

“After our major efforts in containing the malaria outbreak in the Congo, we hope to open up new areas. Now, the major leader in the pharmaceutical industry is Newt Ross, who is here tonight, and I hope he will offer his aid in this endeavor.”

Thomas was not surprised that Newt had guessed her game, as he seemed to know a great deal of what was going on. Thomas was hopelessly lost on why this was important, but what he kept going back to be the logo that WCKD had. He had seen it before, when the local convenience store had been bought out by some corporation. No name had been given in the buy, but the logo was there, and Thomas tried to remember. Why they were buying some small-time businesses if they were nearing the top of the field.

“What is it?” Newt asked.

“It’s the logo, I’ve seen in before.” Thomas replied.

“Where at?”

“One of the local convenience stores was bought by them. I could never figure out why, as they had been buying a whole bunch of other ones too. It’s part of the reason why I’m looking into the economy.” Thomas explained.

“Weird, just another thing to add to the list.”

“What list?”

“Nothing just don’t worry about it. Just be ready, you’re going to be my fall back when Dr. Paige inevitable makes her way over here.” Newt said.

Thomas dropped the subject but added another strange thing to Newt. He always seemed to know more than what he let on, and Thomas always seemed three steps behind Newt. Thomas wasn’t a huge intellect, but he was no slouch when it came to figuring things out, but usually it had to be at his own pace. However, here he was out of his element was hopeless when it came to know how these things worked. The wealthy always lived a different lifestyle, and this was Thomas’ first real exposure to their world. Dr. Paige finished here opening remarks quickly and food was brought out after and Thomas went at it with abandon.

“Slow down you brute.” Newt chastised.

“Didn’t have much of a lunch, I was too busy trying to cover for Minho.” Thomas replied.

“Vince was right about you; you do have a golden heart.”

They were silent again after that and sure enough Dr. Paige made her way over and smiled at the table before turning her attention to Newt.

“Mr. Ross so good to see you here.” Dr. Paige said.

“Ava, a rather nice event you managed to pull together.” Newt replied.

“Why thank you, I was hoping to talk with you for a minute.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Well, as you know were pushing into building in Central America, but we currently don’t have the capital to make that big of a push. What I was hoping is that you would be willing to partner with us to make that happen.” Dr. Paige said.

“Seems interesting, but why would I help you? You’re one of my competitors and the way I see it is doing that is the same as shooting myself in the foot.” Newt challenged.

“I understand your concern, but your company is not solely in the pharmaceutical market, mine is, however. I see you helping yourself by getting in the market while its relatively uncontested.”

Newt was silent and then turned to Thomas and looked at him for a moment before turning his gaze back to Dr. Paige. He smiled, but Thomas could tell it was strained as he really didn’t want to commit to anything, but he couldn’t appear rude.

“Well, I’ll need to do cost analysis and you’ll need to send you financial information and cost projections, so I have something to look at and bring to the board. Now, aside from that I have been entirely rude and leaving my guest unnoticed. This is Thomas, he’s a junior reporter at the Right Arm.” Newt said.

A look passed over her face before she smiled tightly, “So, nice to meet you. I hope you’ll give fair treatment to us business folk.”

“Fair and honest, that’s the motto all journalists live by.” Thomas replied.

“I see, well I’ll allow you to eat and I hope to see you in the future Newt.” Dr. Paige said.

Dr. Paige left them to their meal and Thomas could tell that that had tested Newt’s patience to a great deal. Newt’s face was taunt his jaw was clenched, but he never said anything or made any outright ways showing his discomfort. Thomas wasn’t sure what to do so he simply put his hand on Newt’s arm as a way of trying to sooth him. Newt nearly jumped at the contact and looked over to Thomas and gave him a small smiled and patted his hand. The rest of the meal was silent and once all the plates had been cleared, they were all ushered into a connecting room that had various displays of what WCKD had to offer.

Newt ignored most of it and talked to a few of his fellow colleagues and Thomas decided to wander off on his own. One of the smaller tables included some local news and sure enough, Thomas had the first experience of his two worlds connecting. The main picture was of him in his costume taking bullets and not even flinching. What really threw him was the fact that a major corporation was using him as a selling point and Thomas wasn’t even sure how.

“What did you find?” Minho said behind him.

“Did you hear about this?” Thomas asked.

Minho looked at the stand and was silent and Thomas could almost fell the tension.

“Yeah, a few rumblings about this guy. Never thought any of it was true, but it seems he’s catching more attention now. Wonder what Vince would think if we tried to run a piece on him.” Minho said.

“Yeah, but why does WCKD care about him in the first place?”

“How would you react to finding out about someone who could get shot and not blink. I would want to know as much as possible, and if I understand the business world correctly try and commercialize him in any way.”

“Seems wrong to me.” Thomas said quietly.

“That’s business for you.”

Thomas wasn’t really all that comfortable staying at the gala much anymore and went in search of Newt, in hopes he could convince him to leave. Newt was sipping on some drink and seeming to enjoy the conversation he was having but dropped it when he saw Thomas.

“Something wrong?” Newt asked.

“Just, how much longer are you intending to stay?” Thomas asked.

“It really doesn’t matter; this is all just for show now. Do you need to be somewhere?”

“No, it’s just I found something, and I’d rather not stay because of it.”

“Alright, I’ll call Alfred and have him meet us out front.” Newt said.

“Thank you.”

They left quickly and luckily the press was mostly gone from the steps, so they managed to get out relatively uncontested. They were silent in the car as Alfred seemingly knew to drive Thomas to his apartment and not back to the one that Newt owned. Thomas didn’t say a word to Newt, not wanting to give anything away. His mind was a mess and he was questioning whether he wanted this kind of attention because of what he was trying to do, or if he should just hang up his cape and forget about his silly dreams. When they parked outside his apartment Thomas turned to Newt, but Newt wouldn’t look at him, so Thomas left the car without saying a word.

Newt was seemingly off and Thomas wondered if Newt knew what it was that Thomas was freaking out about. He shoved those thoughts aside and rushed up the stairs and into his home. He stripped himself of the suit and threw himself into the shower and let all the stress and worry try to wash off with the water. He most likely would have to be careful when doing heroics in the future and not let the wrong kind of character control him. Thomas went to sleep that night trying to piece what all he had seen and where his life was going to go next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to add notes to the first chapter, but let me know what you think of the story and if you find any errors, especially continuity as I work on this during downtime from classes so I may screw up here and there.


	3. Truth Telling

Thomas spent the next entire week laying low, doing his work and then promptly returning home and not going out on patrol. He wasn’t sure why WCKD scared him so much, but it did, and it’s not like there was anything he could really do about it. Minho had tried to talk to him about the gala, but Thomas remained silent on the matter and avoided any conversation about Newt. Minho eventually caught on and avoided talking about it but didn’t refrain from gushing about his night with Teresa. She was apparently very smart and had a vast wealth of cultural knowledge that Minho really enjoyed. Of course, she had gone back to Paris after the gala and Minho hadn’t heard from her since, but that didn’t stop him from daydreaming.

Thomas continued his investigation of the small shops, now that he knew who was buying them up, but never really got anywhere with it. He had hit a roadblock that seemingly couldn’t be moved, and he was about ready to give up on the whole thing. His housing investigation also went nowhere and gave that up about halfway through the week and was stuck looking up small puff pieces to put in the back of the paper or keep the website up to date. It was grunt work and rather boring, but there wasn’t much else that he could do now.

On the Friday of that week he finally donned his costume and went out again to see if there was something that could lift his mood. He had the day to himself and was enjoying the sun and the wind as he flew around the city. That is until he heard the sirens and the firing of guns and he was off at breakneck speed. When he arrived at the scene the police were stuck behind their cars as machine gun fire rained down on them from the bank that was being robbed. He almost didn’t get in the way until he saw the RPG being pulled out. He moved quickly to get in the way when it was fired, and a great explosion rocked the scene when it contacted him. He felt almost nothing of the impact and stood there waiting for the smoke to clear, hoping to make a little bit of a show. When the smoke cleared people stared in shock at his presence and he maintained a serious look as he directed his gaze to the robbers.

“Now, was that really necessary?” he asked.

No one said anything and the robbers simply opened fire on him, but it wasn’t as if it was going to do anything. He simply began to stroll forward under the rain of bullets and saw the men panic more and more as he drew closer. The first man he came up to stopped firing as he stood in front of him and Thomas smirked to him, however he never saw the other guy until he had been hit in the head. It really didn’t hurt; it simply took him by surprise, so he stumbled to the side a few steps and collected himself. When the guy came at him again, Thomas caught the butt of the gun with his hand and then ripped it from the guy’s grip. He then bent the gun in half, like he was crushing an aluminum can.

The other men gasped at what he had just done and two of them just dropped their guns right then and there. However, the guy that hit him over the head didn’t seem to be backing down as he charged Thomas and that’s when he noticed it. There were subtle black veins spider webbing across his face and Thomas knew the guy was on the same drug as that mugger. He caught the guys fist, to try and avoid him from shattering his hand and that’s when Thomas felt the strength behind it. While it was nowhere near the force Thomas could put out if he was trying, the strength wasn’t something to ignore. So, Thomas threw his arm to the side and punched the guy square in the face to try and knock him out in one go.

The guy staggered and nearly fell, but he wasn’t down just yet. The guy came back swinging and Thomas simply dodged them and made the guy more and more frustrated. As the fight dragged on Thomas noticed something interesting that was happening to the guy. The black veins became more prominent and he seemed to become more animalistic, and he also finally managed to land a punch. That hit was different from the others as it had some force behind it and Thomas was taken aback by it. He staggered as the guy landed blow after blow, slowly shoving Thomas back down the steps, that is until he stood his ground and decided to end it.

Thomas grabbed the guy’s fist, and then his arm and threw him into the ground with force. The concrete cracked under the force and the guy did not get back up after that. Thomas looked at him and to the other robbers and they all then dropped their guns and held their hands into the air. Apparently, the drugged-up guy was their ace in the sleeve, but they didn’t account on Thomas showing up at all. Once the police had apprehended the men, Thomas sighed and relaxed and looked back at the crowd that had formed to watch on. He wasn’t entirely ready for any press, so he simply floated into the air, smiled, and saluted then flew off.

He heard the gasps of people as the watched and that always managed to bring a smile to his face, however that quickly vanished when he heard it. The sound was familiar, the snap his of a zipline being fired and Thomas quickly looked around at the various buildings. He managed to spot him two buildings over hiding behind one of the brick walls. Thomas flew over quickly and stood behind him, while Batman peeked around the corner once again.

“What are we looking for?” Thomas asked.

If Batman was at all surprised, he didn’t show and quickly whipped around to face Thomas.

“How did you see me?” Batman asked.

“Oh, I heard your little zipline gun and then saw you behind the wall. Having x-ray vision makes it hard for people to hide from me.” Thomas explained.

“Oh, does it now? You seemed to have handled that situation down there well.”

“Didn’t seem all that difficult, though the guy at the end put up more fight than what I was expecting.”

Batman was silent for a moment, “I suppose, anything unique about him?”

“Just the black veins that crisscrossed his body. I’ve never seen anything like it, and they seemed to get darker the stronger he got. Though he seemed to be more animalistic, as if the black stuff took away from his mental awareness.” Thomas explained.

“That sounds familiar. Bane, on of the warlords in the Caribbean fought off someone who had the same characteristics. Called the drug a bastardized version of his Venom.”

“How long ago was that?” Thomas asked.

“About a month, Bane isn’t someone who takes kindly to my presence. Though I’d imagine the drug the challenger was on has been improved if it caught your attention.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, that it is far more potent. From what I know and seen; your strength could put anyone else on this planet to shame.” Batman said.

Thomas was at a loss, Batman seemed to more than Thomas and he was wondering if this guy was going to throw him a bone.

“Will you need backup for this little investigation you seem to be waging?” Thomas asked.

Batman turned and looked at him for a moment, “Perhaps, you do have some advantages.”

“Such as?”

“Well, for one you can take a bullet. However, my methods are not so blunt as yours.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Thomas asked defensively.

“You tend to punch your way through things, I plan on finding all I can before engaging, but when the time comes, I’ll give you a call.” Batman replied.

Before Thomas could reply, Batman made a hasty retreat and Thomas simply let him go. He understood where the guy was coming from when it came to investigating anything. Thomas certainly was a presence wherever he went, especially in the blue suit and red cape he wore when patrolled. He also wasn’t great at investigating in the first place as he had very little experience in it, especially something on this scale. However, he spent the rest of the day zipping around the city looking for more trouble and any other possible clues as to where this wonder drug was coming from.   
He honestly got nowhere, and it was starting to frustrate him, as all he was trying to do was help people and so far, all he’s done is hurt. He flew back to his apartment and quickly zipped up the stairs to avoid anyone noticing him. He quickly shut the door and placed his head on it breathing a huge sigh of relief.

“Holy shit.” A voice said.

Thomas whipped around and sitting in his apartment was both Newt and Minho, both looking rather shocked at Thomas’ appearance.

“Damn it.” Thomas said quietly.

“Thomas, what?” Minho said.

“Guess the cat is out of the bag?” Thomas joked.

“Way out of the bag.” Newt added.

“Explain, now.” Minho demanded.

Thomas walked over to his couch and sat down, and the two sat across from him in small chairs he had set up.

“So, I have superpowers and I’m sure you’ve heard of some superman helping people.” Thomas started.

“Something like that.” Minho responded.

“Well, I am that person and I honestly didn’t expect anyone to ever find out. The only people who know are my parents because they had to deal with the powers as they came in.”

“So, you’ve kept this big secret for your whole life, and you never thought you could trust other people with it?” Minho asked.

“Basically yes, it would put you in unnecessary danger and I didn’t know who to trust.” Thomas admitted.

They were both silent and Thomas waited in anticipation on what they would say. Minho looked conflicted and a little angry at the whole situation, but Thomas was mainly focused on Newt as his face was unreadable and he had a feeling Newt already knew this about him.

“What are you going to do now?” Minho asked.

“What do you mean?” Thomas replied.

“Are you going to stop doing hero work now that we know?”

“Do you think I should?” Thomas asked quietly.

“Hell yes, you’re actually out there trying to make the world a better place. Don’t sacrifice all that just for my sake and I’m sure Newt can take care of himself. I’m just honestly disappointed you never came to me with this, I could’ve been your eyes and ears to help you find the places to go.” Minho said.

“True, but I can see through walls and hear miles away Minho. Not sure how much you could help my senses in this case.”

It was silent for a moment before Minho started laughing and Thomas joined with him, releasing the tension he held in his shoulders. It was great that Minho was taking this whole thing well, as it was a difficult thing to come to terms with. However, that mirth was killed by the fact that Newt wasn’t laughing, in fact his face was still passive, and his stare was boring holes into Thomas.

“Newt?” Thomas asked.

Minho stopped laughing and turned his attention to the blonde and the apartment grew silent yet again.

Newt sighed, “I’m not going to lie, but I already knew your secret.”

Thomas sputtered for a moment, “What do you mean you knew?”

“I never like to not know things, especially things I invest in. I got you hired at the Right Arm mostly because I saw your talent for writing and knew that your investigating skills would blossom under guidance. However, when I first discovered you, I did my research and traced you back to Colorado and started picking up stories of miracle events. A bus being pulled out of the river, a car being prevented from crushing a man, and a small gang being thrown in jail and all their bullets seemingly bouncing off a steel wall.” Newt said.

“You didn’t talk to my parents, did you?” Thomas warned.

“No, I still have my boundaries and knew that was crossing one. However, a few locals gave a description of a boy with dark hair, pale skin, and a quiet personality somehow doing these things. It took some work, but I worked my way to Metropolis and simply waited for you to act again. Now I know you and your golden heart wouldn’t allow you to rest when bad things happened and after that it was a piece of cake.”

Thomas hung his head, “Was I really that easy to figure out?”

“No, keep in mind I have a vast network and an endless supply of money and in this world money talks.” Newt said.

Thomas nodded, consoled by the fact that at least it wasn’t all that easy to track him down. Though it did explain a few comments and looks Newt had given him whenever they had interacted.

“Alright, enough about me what were you two doing in my apartment in the first place?” Thomas asked.

“Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to go out for a few drinks. I don’t know what this shank wanted with you, though I can imagine.” Minho said.

“We had left on a rather awkward note after the gala and I wanted to smooth things over, and perhaps invite you to dinner.” Newt said.

Minho grunted and smiled but said nothing and then gave Thomas a look.

“Where and when?” Thomas asked.

“Well, perhaps this coming Monday in Gotham?”

“Gotham? That’s like a two-hour drive.” Thomas said.

“Why does that matter, can’t you just fly there? From what I’ve heard you can break the sound barrier.” Minho said.

Thomas shot him a look, but Minho simply smiled and tried to hold back the laughter he clearly had.

“That works, at that speed you could be in Gotham in a few minutes.” Newt said.

“Well, I’ve never actually tried to see how fast I can go but I know its at least Mach 2. Though I do have to warn you I’ll be arriving in my suit as it’s the only thing capable of withstanding the friction at that speed.” Thomas said.

“Well aren’t you special.” Minho mocked.

“Would you just shut it.” Thomas said smiling.

“So, I can expect you to come?” Newt asked.

“I guess, don’t see why not.”

“Good, I’ll send you the details later and an idea of where the mansion is.”

Newt got up then and collected himself and then smiled at them both, before moving to the door.

“I hope to see you Monday, Tommy.” He said.

With that Newt left the apartment and Thomas was blatantly ignoring the shit-eating grin that Minho was giving him. Thomas got up to change out of his suit and into casual clothes so that he and Minho could go out drinking and Thomas could try and forget some of the things that had happened in the last few hours. They went to a small bar about two blocks from Thomas’ apartment and got a few beers and just enjoyed the evening, that is until the news came on.

“Thomas, look.” Minho said.

Thomas turned his attention to the TV screen and saw the local newscast with a picture of him at the robbery that went down earlier that day. It showed video of him taking an RPG and being unfazed.  
“You took a rocket to the face and didn’t even flinch?” Minho asked astonished.

“Yeah, felt like getting hit with a gentle breeze.” Thomas answered.

“That’s nuts dude.”

The report continued and Thomas couldn’t really hear what they were saying as there was too much noise going on in the bar, but soon the graphics showed what they were getting at. It eventually said asking if he was a hero or a menace and where he had come from. He had expected this kind of reaction when people first saw him in a major way, and he would just have to deal with the skepticism until they got comfortable with the idea that he was just trying to help people out. He could tell Minho was looking at him, and Thomas was just trying to ignore him as he had these kinds of thoughts run through his head every day.

“You alright?” Minho asked.

“Fine, its nothing I haven’t thought about before. People are always afraid of things they don’t understand and since I pose such a powerful threat, there is going to be a lot of fear for a while.” Thomas answered.

“You know we could try and change that faster than you think.”

“What do you mean?” Thomas asked.

“The Right Arm were bound to pick this up. It’s a juicy story and one that is going on right at out doorstep. I could try to get assigned to it and from there we can show people what your trying to do.” Minho explained.

Thomas thought for a moment, “That’s not awful, but I can’t be too close to it and if you decide to take it you can’t show favoritism. No matter how much you understand what I want, you must play fair and can’t jump to conclusions too fast. Nothing is going to stir up people more than someone trying to tell them how to feel.”

“I understand Thomas, don’t forget I’ve been in this game years longer than you have. I’ll be sure to keep my impartiality on it, but there are steps we can take to ease the public. The purpose of the press is to tell the public what is going on and help them understand that way they don’t freak out.”

Thomas sighed, “Alright but take it slow, I’m still new at this so I’ll probably mess up at some point.”

Thomas and Minho enjoyed a few more drinks before calling it a night and Thomas yet again set off to his apartment alone. The sun had set and gradually the sky was getting darker and the lights on the street had finally come on. He was barely a block from his building when he heard the footsteps and heavy breathing. He stopped and waited and sure enough the footsteps stopped as well, but Thomas didn’t show that he had noticed. He started walking slowly but put his guard up ready for a fight. Whoever was following him started walking again and Thomas knew that he either had to shake this guy or fight him off.

Thomas stopped and turned to face whoever was following him and there stood a middle-aged man who appeared to be sweating heavily. It was then that Thomas noticed the black veins crisscrossing the guy’s face and how black his eyes were. This guy was very far gone and the drug that he had taken had turned him practically feral. Thomas was simply glad he was the person that the guy had decided to fight him, rather than some other random person.

“Are you alright?” Thomas asked.

This only seemed to anger the guy as he started grunting and then he charged with a cry of feral rage. Thomas dodged the first punch and turned to see the guy nearly fall on his face, but he quickly recovered and turned again. This time Thomas caught the guy’s fist and held firm and gave him an unimpressed look.

“Listen, I don’t want to hurt you so why don’t we get you to a hospital and get you better.” Thomas said.

The guy merely yelled and suddenly Thomas felt a surge of strength in the guy and Thomas started to put force behind his fist. He diverted the guy’s arm into the ground and took a step back readying for when he came at him again. A feral cry went and out and the guy lashed out with haymakers and some half-hearted kicks and Thomas simply backed up. Finally, Thomas reached a street and decided to end this so he could go back and get some sleep. He caught one of the guy’s arm and tried to break it so the guy would just go down, but before he could the other fist came swinging and hit him square in the jaw. Thomas staggered as the punch hurt him just a little bit and that caught him by surprise.

The guy landed a few more blows and that left Thomas reeling wondering how much stronger this guy was going to get. He got a break when the guy seemingly got hit by something and started moaning and struggled to stay on his feet. Thomas wasn’t sure exactly how this whole strength enhancer worked but he started to suspect that the extra power came at a cost of any higher brain function. He used his vision to look at the guy’s brain and what he saw there was shocking. Black veins dominated most of the brain and seemed to pulsate with his heartbeat, and as the guy began to move again the black substance took over more area.

Thomas refocused and stopped all the attacks coming his way, but there was more and more force behind each hit. Finally, the guy managed to surprise him with a gut punch and Thomas staggered back, more out of surprise than any actual pain. The guy came at him again and Thomas retaliated with force, putting the guy down in two swings and holding him to the ground with his foot. Once on the ground all the fight seemed to drain from the guy and Thomas could see the black veins retreating. When the man groaned and held his head Thomas took his chance to get some actual information.

“Where did you get it?” Thomas asked.

“What?” the guy asked weakly.

“The drug, the one that nearly caused serious brain damage. Where did you get it?”

“Man, I don’t know. I was just trying to get my pain medication and they gave me it. There wasn’t anything else in there or anything new I swear.”

“What store was that exactly?” Thomas pressed.

“It was Corey’s, the small one three blocks from here. Just got some big corporate sponsor and all that.”

“Thanks, now scram I’d rather not have to put you down again.” Thomas growled.

The guy slowly picked himself up and dragged himself away muttering all kinds of things that Thomas chose to ignore. What he was thinking about was that his little investigation could go forward yet again with a new lead. He’d most likely have to push to get any financial information, but it was a new start and now he knew whatever this drug was it was too dangerous to be kept out there. He was so focused that he almost missed the small whirring of gears and turned to see a small drone hovering over the street. Its camera was aimed at him and Thomas knew that whoever was behind this knew who he was, or at least wanted to see what happened.

He focused on the drone and felt the heat build up in his eyes, then two focused red beams shot out and destroyed the drone. Whoever it was would have to come to him head on, and not hide behind cameras if they wanted to mess with him. He huffed and walked the short distance left to his home and locked the door behind him. He spent the next three hours pulling up all his old work and articles he had managed to scrape together on the subject. He then added a new piece, WCKD. There wasn’t a whole lot online to really see about them, but he had to start somewhere and if WCKD was this dirty then they wouldn’t have it plastered all over the internet.

Thomas kept working well into the night and really didn’t pause until he saw the time and it read three a.m. He groaned and finally felt the exhaustion that was pulling at him and shut everything down before turning in for the night. Saving lives would have to wait until he got some proper rest.


	4. A Night at the Manor

When Thomas arrived at the office Monday, he noticed that there was a definite energy to the place as people moved to and fro quickly. Thomas was rather confused and slowly approached his desk and set his desk down while watching everyone else. Thomas noticed Minho walking over to him and gave him a small wave, but the look on Minho’s face stopped that greeting.

“What’s up?” Thomas asked.

“Oh, just that Vince got word of your little escapade on Friday and has sent the entire place into overdrive. I’ve spent the last half an hour trying to pull together today’s report with everything else being crazy.” Minho explained.

“What is Vince saying?”

“Not much, just wanting everyone to figure out as much as they can on you. Luckily, he hasn’t asked me to do any of the reporting yet or you’d be toast.”

“You’d seriously rat me out?” Thomas asked surprised.

Minho smiled, “No, just teasing but it wouldn’t be easy to cover for you in that instance.”

Thomas sighed and looked down taking in the fact that the world would be exposed to who he was now, and he would have to live with it. 

“Anyway, we could throw Vince a bone to keep him from digging too deep?” Thomas asked.

Minho looked at him and then smiled, “I like where your mind is at. I’m sure we could come up with something to throw him off. Though the only think I can think of is an interview, but that would need to be in person. If you can think of something, I’m all ears.”

“I’ll try and think, though I do have something on the whole small business thing now and after this weekend I believe WCKD is behind it all.” Thomas said.

“Woah, that’s a big jump. I would be partial to believe you, but you need hard evidence if you want to make an accusation like that.” Minho said.

“I know, its just a hunch right now. The only evidence I have is that WCKD bought one of the pharmaceutical stores near me. Other than that, I haven’t had time to dig into it much.”

“I get that, let me know if you need help or some contacts.” Minho said.

“Will do.”

Thomas got to work after that and just tried to ignore the chaos that was going on around him. He spotted Vince every now and then talking to various people, but not once did he approach Thomas and ask anything. Not that Thomas was expecting him to do so as he was a junior reporter with nothing noteworthy to his name. He spotted Minho getting a talking to, but Thomas specifically kept his hearing down so he wouldn’t appear rude. Around lunch things had seemed to calm down, as Thomas ate at his desk and continued to edit small online articles and kept his ear to the ground on his feelers about the small businesses. 

“Thomas, can we talk?” a voice asked.

Thomas turned around with his sandwich in his hand to see Vince standing there with his arms crossed. A pool a dread settled in Thomas’ stomach as to why Vince would talk to him on such a busy day. 

“Yeah, sure.” Thomas replied.

Thomas set his food down and stood up and followed Vince to his office where the door was shut behind him. The dread began to get worse as whatever Vince had wanted to tell him was not something to get out.

“Have you heard what has been going on?” Vince asked.

“I’ve heard rumblings, but I’m not sure what all the hysteria is about.” Thomas replied.

“Well, over the weekend our city discovered a new protector as many want to call him.” Vince explained.

Thomas attempted to seem surprised, “Really? What happened?”

“Violent bank robbery, that turned into a shootout was what prompted the response. This man flew down and resolved the situation in two minutes. The bullets seemed to be ineffective and he was hit by an RPG and seemed unfazed. The fact that this kind of person exists scares a great deal of people, though the police seem to want him to join the force. What I want from you is to try and find this guy and get an interview.” Vince explained.

“What? Why me?” Thomas asked.

“You’re new here and therefore don’t have any baggage that might scare this guy away. Now I’m not expecting you to get anywhere for a while, but I want you to make this your top priority.” Vince said.  
“I’ll see what I can do, but what does that mean everyone else will do?”

“Well, there are a whole bunch of different angles to take this event and get reactions. Also, I’ve put a team together to help out with that housing issue you had mentioned last week.”

Thomas was silent for a moment realizing what exactly was happening, “I’ll send them what I have.”

“Thanks, and you can get back to it.” Vince said.

Thomas silently made his way back to his desk and sat there motionless for a moment, unsure of what to do. Something he had been working on since he got hired was being ripped from him just so he could write some puff piece about himself. It irritated him to no end, but there wasn’t much that he could do. If he pushed back Vince could just fire him and he would lose all his resources that he was using for his investigation into WCKD. He then decided to just live with it and gathered all the articles, and evidence he had gathered and sent it all to the team that was taking over his investigation. He distracted himself for the rest of the day by simply doing busy work and filling out his schedule for the next month. 

When it reached four ‘o’clock and others began to leave for the evening Minho trapped him in his desk and waited until he turned around. Thomas already heard Minho coming and was waiting to see what he would do, until Thomas’ patience wore out.

“What Minho?” Thomas asked without turning.

“How’d you know I was here?” Minho asked.

“Super hearing, now get to the point.”

“So, you heading to Ross Manor from here?” Minho asked.

“Yes, why?”

“Oh, no reason, just wanted to make sure you use safety precautions. You could easily break the guy if you’re not careful.” Minho said.

Thomas was silent, annoyed by where Minho was going, and this didn’t help his already sour mood.

“That is not going to happen tonight.” Thomas said firmly.

“Hey, I’m just concerned and teasing. Just try and have a good time, I know today wasn’t all the best for you. Take tonight to blow off some steam.”

“If I blow off steam, Newt is going to need a new house.”

Minho laughed and Thomas cracked a smile and began to shut his computer down.

“Would you be up for drinks on Tuesday?” Thomas asked.

“I could be.” Minho replied.

“Good, we can get some and I’ll tell you all about tonight.”

“Oh, now your speaking my language.”

Minho left not long after that, but Thomas took another hour to get all his work done and his research sent to the right people. He then gathered his things and returned to his small apartment and dumping it all in there before striping down to his uniform. He then left his apartment and began flying towards Gotham. He broke the sound barrier a few times and the ground rushed past him. He spotted the outlying towns of Gotham shortly after that and slowed down to find Newt’s manor. He wasn’t all that familiar with the area and wasted nearly ten minutes flying around before he spotted the building. As he flew down an alarm rang out and suddenly anti-air cannons appeared and began to shoot at him.

The bullets pushed him back, not because they hurt or anything but because of the sheer amount of them. He managed to spot one and wasted it with his heat vision before the suddenly stopped shooting. Thomas lowered down to the front door and found Newt standing there looking at the ruined gun before turning and smiling at him.

“Sorry, probably should’ve warned you about the guns.” Newt said.

“Its fine the bullets didn’t hurt and I’m sorry about melting the one.” Thomas replied.

Newt scoffed, “I’ll just replace it, not like it’ll really cost me.”

Thomas didn’t know how to respond to that and remained silent until he noticed that Newt was drinking him in with his eyes. Thomas felt self-conscious but tried not to react and simply waited to be invited inside.

“Well, dinner is almost ready, and I suppose you’d rather not wait outside.” Newt said.

“I don’t really care, its not like the weather really affects me.” Thomas replied.

“What do you mean by that?”

“The whole invulnerability makes temperature nonexistent so I could be outside in a snowstorm and it would feel the same a summer day.” Thomas explained.

“That must be nice.”

“It can be, though I do miss feeling what a warm day is like.” Thomas lamented.

“Let’s head inside.” Newt said ending the conversation.

Thomas followed Newt and was blown away by the size of the house that he owned. Many of the rooms were beautifully decorated and filled with various pieces of furniture, but what kept nagging at Thomas was the distinct lack of people. Typically, large houses meant large families, but all that Thomas knew lived here was Newt and his butler, Alfred. Newt was watching him and seemed to know what Thomas was thinking and lead him to the living room. It was massive with a large fireplace that was lit, and rather elaborated furniture pieces spread around the room.

“So, I can tell you have questions.” Newt said, breaking the silence.

“A few, but I don’t want to be rude.” Thomas replied.

“Its fine, I owe you a few answers.”

Thomas sighed, “Is it really just you and Alfred that live here?”

“Yes, has been that way since my parents died. Though the gardener does come by every other week in the summer.” Newt answered.

“Isn’t that a bit lonely?”

Newt was silent for a long while and eyed Thomas. Thomas began to fidget in his seat until Newt sighed and looked down.

“It is, but when you’re like me there aren’t many that don’t have an ulterior motive to associating with you.” Newt said.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean…”

Newt cut him off with a hand, “Really its alright. I haven’t been on the world stage all that long so not many are aware. I spent most of my teens in the east trying to find myself and it was not a fun process. My visiting Metropolis and these other business functions is my way of getting back into society.”

Thomas’ heart went out to him, “Well, if you ever feel like just having a normal evening you can always call. I don’t do much with my free time other than patrol and there can be weeks between anything happening.”

Newt smiled a real smile and Thomas returned it. Thomas could feel this pull but before the moment could go any further Alfred arrived saying that dinner was ready. Newt lead him to the large dining room with a massive table dominating most of the space. Two plates had been set up on one end and Newt took one, while Thomas took the other. The food itself was better than anything Thomas had ever had in his entire life. He supposed that he was slowly being exposed to Newt’s life and Newt didn’t want to scare or shock him with it.

“You know this is the best food I’ve ever had.” Thomas said.

Newt paused eating to look at him, “Really? I find that hard to believe.”

“Newt, I grew up on a ranch and I live in a dirt-cheap apartment. I’ve never really had money to spend on many luxuries.” Thomas said.

“Oh, I wasn’t all that aware. I just thought that the apartment was because you didn’t have a lot of money yet.”

“You’re not wrong, but my parents aren’t all that well off either. Though I wouldn’t trade the life I was given, and my parents do their best to make ends meet. Nowadays they most have others rent out the farmland or have workers do the work for them. They’re in their sixties so its harder for them to do the hard work.” Thomas explained.

“They sound nice, think they’d ever visit the city?” Newt asked.

“Maybe, the flight is expensive, and driving would take them days to do. I suppose if I saved enough to fly them out here I would, but for now I try and call when I can.”

Newt looked down and seemed to be thinking but pulled out of the thoughts quickly.

“How’s work been?” Newt asked.

“Well, I have to interview myself.” Thomas said.

Newt laughed, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Vince gave me the assignment of trying to interview the Superman, which is me. I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to pull it off.” Thomas said.

“I’m sure you could think of something. Though I thought you had other assignments?”

“I did but I sent my housing piece to another team and I’ve luckily kept the pharmacy thing on the down low that Vince didn’t say anything.” Thomas said.

“Are you alright with that, I mean its your work you’re having to put on hold.” Newt said.

“No, I honestly don’t but there isn’t really anything that I can do about it. I’m the new guy so all I can do is suck it up and live with it.”

“Are you sure, I can always talk to Vince.” Newt offered.

“No, thanks though. All that will make me look like is a whinny kid who can’t work unless he gets his way.”

“Well, just know I’m rooting for you and I’ll look forward to that interview.”

Thomas groaned and Newt simply laughed and the resumed eating only talking lightly here and there. Alfred made another appearance to offer dessert and clear the dinner plates away. Thomas had himself a piece of chocolate cake, as he hadn’t had something like that in months. Not to mention that chocolate cake was his favorite and it was what he had for his every birthday.

Once the meal was over Newt lead him into the theater and Thomas had to take a moment to accept the fact that Newt had a home theater. It wasn’t a cheap one either that was just a projector. It was a room with the theater styled seats, a huge screen, large stereo speakers and an actual movie projector. Newt vanished to go put in a movie on and Thomas sank into the seat and put up the arm rests to turn the front seats into a couch. Newt returned and looked at the seating and didn’t say anything but smirked at him and Thomas felt his face heat up. Newt sat down next to him and the movie started, but Thomas couldn’t honestly concentrate on it when Newt leaned against him.

He could tell Newt was warm and was strong underneath the nice clothes he wore. Thomas shifted to better hold his weight and when he did, Newt just leaned further into him. He wasn’t sure at what point that Newt fell asleep, but about halfway through the movie Thomas noticed the even breathing of Newt and saw his eyes were closed. Thomas smiled softly looking at the hard edges of Newt having smoothed out just the slightest and he looked younger. The sadness Thomas saw him carry was gone and he was glad he got this moment. Near the end of the movie Thomas began to run his hand through Newt’s hair and felt the softness of it. Newt didn’t wake and Thomas guessed that Newt didn’t sleep well if he went out this easily.

When the movie did end, Thomas didn’t move and just let Newt sleep some thinking that he deserved some rest. It didn’t last long as Newt slowly woke up a few minutes later and sat up, blinking tiredly and taking in his surroundings. When he landed on Thomas, he paused for a moment but then decided to stretch. He stood and moved to shut off the projector and Thomas made his way to the door noticing how late it had become. He still had work and he honestly didn’t want to lose anymore sleep than he already did on a regular basis. Newt was looking at his phone as he led Thomas out of the house but put it away when they reached the outside.

“Everything alright?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah, just some work issues. Nothing I can’t handle, but I wanted to show you out and not be rude.” Newt replied.

“Well, thanks for the nice evening. It was fun.”

“I’m glad. I hope we can do this again.”

“Definitely, seeing as it only takes me a few minutes to get here. At least now that I know where your house is.” Thomas said.

Newt smiled, “Get out of here and get home, I’ll see you soon.”

Thomas nodded but before he could take off Newt ran forward and kissed his cheek. He waved and then vanished back into his house and Thomas stood there motionless for a few moments. He was stunned by the kiss and put his hand to his cheek. He shook his head and then took off flying quickly back to his home and Metropolis. He had to avoid a few commercial planes on his way back, but he heard them miles ahead of where they were, so he wasn’t worried about running into one.

The next day he spent most of his time at work just trying to do busy work and figure out the questions he was going to submit for his interview with himself. It was difficult threading the needle of asking good questions and not giving things away. Vince would be on him to ask hard questions, but Thomas couldn’t give away who exactly he was or risk tearing down his whole world in the process. He was already taking a risk by allowing Minho and Newt know about his true self and that was just two people. He knew that people feared what they didn’t know or understand, and he was something that scared a lot of people. This would be a good opportunity to ease a lot of fears.

Minho stopped by every now and then to bother him, but Thomas usually scared him off with just a look, but it was a near thing. He knew Minho meant well but his mood was souring as the day progressed and it didn’t help when a call went out about some super powered person leveling a few blocks downtown. In the chaos that followed he managed to slip out and don his uniform and raced towards the fight. When he arrived on the scene, he was surprised by what he found. The guy was in a mech suit of some kind and was giving off serious radiation, as if he were a nuclear reaction contained in one person. All his flesh was seemingly burned away as only his skull was visible.

The figure turned and spotted Thomas, “Ah, Superman! I was wondering when you would show up.”

Thomas slowly floated to the ground and looked the man in the eye, “Who are you?”

“Atomic Skull at your service. Recently broke out of containment so I thought I’d cause some trouble to see if you’d come out. Glad I was right.”

“All this just so you could meet me?” Thomas asked.

“Right on the money, now make my day and fight me.”

Atomic Skull moved before Thomas could respond and swung hard at him and managed to connect. Thomas moved to the side slightly but wasn’t thrown or anything and his anger spiked. He turned back to a smug look and Thomas threw a hard punch and knocked Atomic Skull clear back into the buildings. Even if Thomas had put a little too much force behind it, he was a little past caring at this point. Skull simply dug himself out and came running at him and Thomas dodged easily. Thomas whirled and hit Skull on the back of the head and sent his face into the ground. Thomas then crossed his arms and waited as Skull dug his head out and turned at him looking rather angry.

Thomas could hear the sirens of the police coming so he knew he needed to end this quickly if he was going to keep them safe. Even if he wanted to blow off more steam that came second to the safety of others and with what Thomas figured powered this guy the police wouldn’t really be able to handle it alone.

“You know I expected something different from you, but I suppose that I can always get what I want.” Thomas said.

Skull growled and threw a few punches at him, but Thomas just dodged and then spotted a fire hydrant on the sidewalk. If his assumption about Skull was correct, then water was really the only way to really put him down. Thomas lured him towards it and once he felt it on the back of his leg, he let Skull wind up a big swing before quickly dodging and the hit connected with the hydrant. Water poured out and doused Skull and he yelled as the reaction in him began to lower and sure enough Thomas was right, and Skull went down. He stayed for the police and made sure he was taken away by the proper channels that could handle him. He talked with the police for a few minutes afterwards to make sure everything was squared away. 

Before he took off, he heard it and honestly at first, he thought he was hearing things. It was subtle, two voices going back and forth, and Thomas scanned the fight area and that’s when he spotted it. It was a small black device lying in the road and Thomas snatched it up and held it to his ear and listened.

“This whole endeavor was a waste of time.” One voice said.

“Perhaps, but we did get a better idea of his levels.” Another responded.

“True, but next we should try a different strain. Raw energy isn’t the answer, perhaps we stick with simple strength.”

“I agree, though I worry at the strain and ability for the host to withstand the power. This being’s power seems limitless as we haven’t seen him let loose.”

“Let’s get back to work.”

The line went dead and all he heard was static after that, but Thomas knew this was a clue, albeit a small one. He pocketed the device and flew off to find Minho. He was probably ruining their night, but this took precedence. Someone, or some group of people was testing him and most likely wanted to kill him at some point. This Atomic Skull was just the opening salvo and Thomas was damned if he wouldn’t try and prepare. He quickly changed and entered the bar and found Minho already drinking away and flagged Thomas over.

“Good to see you made it. Heard Superman was putting down some freak downtown.” Minho said.

“Yeah, he was certainly different though I may have hit a little too hard.” Thomas replied.

“Seriously, that was you cutting loose a little. I’d hate to be the one to see you really go all out.”

“Though there was something troubling that came up.”

Thomas put the device on the table and Minho picked it up looking at it. He set it down and took a drink and then eyed Thomas.

“What is that exactly?” Minho asked.

“Some listening device. Atomic Skull was a test for me, the problem is I don’t know who they are and why they sent him.” Thomas answered.

“Damn. That’s seriously messed up. Though I can guess why they sent him after you.”

“Why?”

“Military project, terrorist group, or a business cabal out for world domination. Good strategy would be to test the strongest thing out there to get a gauge on how much force is going to be needed to put it down. Once you have that the rest is attack and conquer.” Minho explained.

Thomas was silent for a moment taking that in. It made sense, though he doubted the military would be so cruel as to test a creature with civilians in harm’s way. More than likely it was a business group. No one really had that kind of funding and resources except for a business and would only see this as a minor setback. It made Thomas rage, but he knew it would be slow going to uncover who it was that wanted him dead.

“Enough of this serious stuff, tell me all about last night.” Minho said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this took a little while, I generally get spurts of really good ideas and then can go a week without anything. I generally aim for four thousand words a chapter so they can take some time. I do almost have all of the next chapter written so expect that one soon. Make sure to leave a comment.


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